Method and apparatus for coded, self-service transfer of articles

ABSTRACT

A self service dispenser for dry cleaned garments, operable day and night, is actuated by a coded card of the customer, from outside the establishment, to move the customer&#39;&#39;s wire coat hanger supported garments to a transfer station. A hooked arm, pivotally mounted on a carriage movable on a track support, then hooks under the set of hangers, lifts them off the conveyor and bodily transports them in one continuous movement away from the conveyor and over into the locked compartment. The garments may hang downwardly in a high narrow compartment, or be laid flat on the floor of a low wide compartment.

Willis et al.

3,917,112 Nov. 4, 1975 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CODED, SELF-SERVICETRANSFER OF ARTICLES Inventors: Irving Willis, 6 Porter Road,

Andover, Mass. 01810; Bernd H. Walter, 191 Plainview Road, Woodbury,N.Y. 11797 Filed: Oct. 7, 1974 Appl. No.: 512,960

Related US. Application Data Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 299,951,Oct. 24, 1972, Pat. No. 3,840,103.

US. Cl. 221/1; 186/14; 198/38; 214/1 BD; 221/195; 221/255; 235161.11 RInt. Cl. G07F ll/58 Field of Search 214/8.5 K, 1 BD; 198/20 R, 198/21,26, 38; 186/14, 16; 221/79, 224, 221/225, 236, 255, 312 A,195, 1; 194/4R, 10; 235/61.11 D, 235/61.11 E, 61.11 R

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,997,133 8/1961 Gehrke 194/4 R X3,785,474 1/1974 Nakarnoto 198/38 3,840,103 10/1974 Willis 194/4 RPrimary ExaminerRobert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-David A. ScherbelAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Pearson & Pearson ABSTRACT A self servicedispenser for dry cleaned garments, operable day and night, is actuatedby a coded card of the customer, from outside the establishment, to movethe customers wire coat hanger supported garments to a transfer station.A hooked arm, pivotally mounted on a carriage movable on a tracksupport, then hooks under the set of hangers, lifts them off theconveyor and bodily transports them in one continuous movement away fromthe conveyor and over into the locked compartment. The garments may hangdownwardly in a high narrow compartment, or be laid flat on the floor ofa low wide compartment.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov.4, 1975 Sheetlof2 3,917,112

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 2 of 2 3,917,112

L1 {Q/ l 9 94 1 33 go o /7 '//l 97 l 30 32 Q IOI- uov RELAY END OF CYCLESWITCH NC f "E i 92 O L SWITCH REVERSING MOTOR ROTATION 93 METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR CODED, SELF-SERVICE TRANSFER OF ARTICLES RELATEDAPPLICATION This application is a continuation in part; of theapplication of Irving Willis, Ser. No. 299,95 1 ,f ledOct. 24, 1972 nowUS. Pat. No. 3,840,103 ofOct. 8', 1974,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has heretofore been proposed to providetransfer means at one or more transfer stations along the path of aconveyor whereby hanger supported garments may be transferred away fromthe conveyor to a work or treatment zone.

In one type transfer means the garments are carried parallel to the pathof the conveyor, rather than closely packed front to back, and whilethis takes up valuable floor space it is relatively easy to drop off thehangers onto a track to fall by gravity to the destination. Typicalthereof are US. Pat. 2,993,584 Winz of 1961, 3,151,730 to Bunten of1964, 3,163,283 to Kuwertz of 1964, 3,785,474 to Nakamoto of 1974' and2,997,133 to Gehrke of Aug. 22, 1961. In addition to being parallel tothe path of the conveyor, in-the Gehrk'e' device special hooks must beused on the conveyor.

In another type transfer means the garments are carriecl transverse tothe path of the conveyor, closely packed and front to back but low cost,conventional, wire hangers can not be used and instead a special set ofhangers are provided as in US. Pat;='3',379,'295 to Varley of Apr. 23,1968. In most devices of this type the hangers are shifted from oneapparatus to another, thereby risking loss of control,inadvertent'dropping, etc., for example, as in the said Varley patentand US. Pat. No. 3,194,383 to Kuwertz of 1965."

In still another type transfer device the garments are.

transverse to the path of the conveyor and a transfer arm is used tolift off the hangers but the arm might tend to pick up adjacent hangersalso unless the clusters, or sets, of hangers were widely spaced apartand- .son that they either shift the hangers from one track or arm toanother, or carry the garments end to end, or require special hangers,hooks, tracks, guides or the like.

SUMMARY OF THIS INVENTION 1 As suggested in the above mentionedco-pending patent application Ser. No. 299,95lnow US. Pat. No. 3,840,103of Irving Willis, the transfer apparatus may comprise an automaticpowered arm, or linkage arranged at the transfer station to grip a setof. garment hangers halted at the station and bodily transport the sameover into the compartment, the compartment being wide and shallow and aninner. door forming a rear wall thereto.

This application is drawn to a specific embodiment of such an apparatuswherein the conveyor halted at the transfer station and the garments aredepending from conventional wire coat hangers. in, front-to-back,closely. packed, association to extend transversely of the path.

An elongated support extends from the locked compartment to the haltedconveyor, the support having a track with a compound curve in a verticalplane, and a carriage movable therealong, the carriage having anelongated hooked arm projecting therefrom and arranged to pivot in ahorizontal plane on the carriage. Eachlink of the conveyor preferablyconsists of a plate having three or four triangular apertures ornotches, so that a set, or cluster, of wire hangers gather in thetriangular notch for ready lift off". The hooked arm has an. enlargedterminal tip on the hooked end to prevent I fall off of the hangerhooks.

Upon signal from the coded control a power means such as a reversibleelectric motor, independent of the halted conveyonlmoves the carriageand hooked arm rearwardly toward the notch containing the desired hangerset whereupon a pivoted cam pivots the moving arm horizontally so thatthe hooked end engages sidewise under the hooks of the hangers. Thecarriage rides in a curved track in the support, and is caused to riseto lift off the hangers by the curve, then to move away from theconveyor and downwardly into the locked compartment as the hooked armdescribes a curved path in a vertical plane while continuouslysupporting the hangers. v i

A rear door then closes the backof the compartment,

as the front door opens, to give access to the garments by the customer.Garments may be placed on the hooked arm for return to the conveyorin asimilar manner. By lowering the level of the conveyorand providing'araised floor to a wide shallow compartment, the apparatus willtwist thegarments on the hooked arm by contact with the floor and the garmentsare then laiddown on the floor for access by an automobile typedrive-inf compartment, at the level of the vehicle windows. g i I g Thecluster of wire coat hangers, once engaged by the hook of the transferarm, is ,never shifted, or released, but is always under positivecontrol so as to avoid the malfunctioning of prior devices, one suchfailure to engage, dropping of garments, tearing of garments, etc.making such an apparatus commercially unacceptable as a self serviceunit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 4 is a side elevationalview ofthe device shown.

in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic side elevation similar to FIG. 1, showing theapparatus used in a wide shallow drive in compartment with the garmentslaid flat and FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in FIG. .1, the endlessconveyor 30 is illustrated only diagrammatically because it is wellknown as a part of an automatic-self-service garment dispenser 31 suchas fully disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,379,295 to Varley or US. Pat. No.3,840,103 to Willis. In such de/ vices a customer has a coded card forinsertion in cohtrol 32 on the exterior of a wall, or kiosk 33, thecontrol then signalling the conveyor 30 to movethelink 34,

carrying the .customers garments up to a halt at the transfer station35, opposite the garment transfer compartment 36. The endless conveyormay extend through one or two floors of a dry cleaning establishment, ordepartment of a hospital, and in this invention each link 34 is abouttwelve inches long, slightly curved and comprises a plate 37 with fourinverted triangular apertures, or notches 38, so that a set, or cluster39, of the hooks 41 of conventional, low cost wire coat hangers 42 willgather in a compact group in the apex, or trough 43 of a triangularnotch 38.

The hangers 42 are carried on conveyor 31 with the garments 44 dependingtherefrom in front-to-back, closely packed arrangement and transverse tothe path of the conveyor so that undue floor space is not used. In thisinvention the garment transfer compartment 36, is immovable, free of therevolving drum apparatus of the prior art, and the front wall 33 isrelatively high and narrow, with a high, narrow hinged front door 45,opposite side walls 46 and 47, a rear wall 48, a floor 49 and a top wall51, there being a slot 52 in the rear wall. The garments 44 are bodilytransported in one continuous movement in the plane of the garments,edge first, from the conveyor 31 into the compartment 36 by the garmenttransfer means 55 of the invention. The door is provided with a knob orhandle 53 and an automatically operated lock 54, the lock opening inresponse to a signal from code control 32 in a known manner Garmenttransfer means 55 includes an elongated support 56, preferably formed bya pair of parallel plates 57 and 58, extending in vertical planes fromproximate the conveyor 31 to proximate the compartment 36 and supportedby bolts 59 on rear wall 48. Journalled on shafts 61 and 62 withinsupport 56, and extending between plates 57 and 58 are a large drivesprocket 63 and a small sprocket 64, the large sprocket 63 being drivenby power means 65, independent of conveyor 31, and formed by areversible electric motor 66, supported on plate 58.

An elongated, compound curved track means 67, comprising a pair ofidentical oppositely disposed arcuate slots 68 and 69, each in a plate57 or 58, extends in a vertical plane in support 56 with a short forwarddowncurved portion 71 proximate the conveyor 31 and a partly circularreverse curved portion 72 proximate compartment 36, separated by thestraight portion 73. A wheeled carriage 74 is guided and supported inthe slots 68 and 69, the carriage 74 having a bracket 75 extending outfrom the slot 68 to which a hooked transfer arm 76 is pivoted at 77 tomove only in a horizontal plane. The carriage 74 is fixed to the endlesschain 78, trained around sprockets 63 and 64, so that the reversiblemotor 66, under the control of the limit switches shown in FlG. 6, movesthe carriage, pivoted arm and any garments thereon, back and forthbetween the conveyor and the compartment.

The elongated hooked transfer am 76 includes a free terminal hook 79, ashaft 81, which is adjustable in length by nut 82 in body 83, andincludes an upstanding cam follower 84 at the tail portion 85 on theother side of the pivot from book 79. The hooked end 79 is called theforward end and the cam follower end 84 is called 1 the rearward end forconvenience.

A cam 86 is pivoted at 87 to the plate 57 of support 56, and includes acurved cam face 88 extending in a horizontal plane in the path offollower 84. As the horizontal hook 79 of arm 76 approaches the clusterof hooks 41 ofthe set of hangers 42, which have been follower 84 andpivots the hook 79 horizontally, or laterally to pass by the hooks inthe apex 43 and then spring back to normal position by reason of spring90to hook .under the cluster of hangers. At this time the hooked arm isinclined downwardly because carriage 74 isin the downwardly inclinedshort portion 71 of the slots 68 and 69. The carriage having reached theend of its path and thewire hangers having been received on the hook 79,over the tapered, terminal, enlargedtip 89, the limit switch 91 signalsthe motor 66 to retract the carriage, thereby lifting the hooks 41 offthe conveyor and out of the apex 43.

The carriage then moves rearwardly along the straight slot portion 73with the garments depending from the hook 79 of arm 76 and continues tomove around the partly circular, reverse curved portion 72 until ittrips limit switch 92 and halts with the garments having passed throughslot 52 in rear wall 48 and stationary in compartment 36.

The circuit 93 under the control of code control 32 i then opens thelock54 of front door 45 after first energizing a second motor 94 to close arear door 95, pivoted at 96, by means of the connection 97 and againstthe bias of spring 98. The cam 86 pivots out of the way of the camfollower 84 as the arm travels toward the compartment 36.

An automobile drive-in type transfer apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 5wherein the conveyor 31 is at a reduced height and may have a section101 leading down from the floor 102 above. Instead of a high, narrow,compartment 36, the compartment 103 is at the level of the window 104 ofa vehicle 105, to enable the driver to actuate control 32 with hismagnetic card, or other code device, and obtain his garments while stillremaining seated in his car. Thus the compartment 103 is low and widewith a low wide front door 106 hinged at 107 and having a handle 108 andan automatic lock 109 similar to lock 54. Compartment 103 includes sidewalls 1 11, a top wall 112 with an integral rear wall 113, the rear wallhaving a slot 114 for support 56, and a floor 115 which is at a raisedheight. The combined top and rear wall is raised out of the way of thetransfer arm by a motor 94 and connection 97, by control circuit 93 anddrops into position by gravity before the lock 109 is automaticallyopened.

By reason of the configuration of the hook 79 of arm 76, the hooks 41 ofthe clusters of wire coat hangers 42 are so carried as to be free totwist nearly through 90 as the lower portion 116 of the garments 44strikes the forward portion 117 of the raised floor 102. The garmentsare thus turned from an endwise position transverse to the path of theconveyor to a position substantially parallel thereto as the transferarm gently lays the garments flatwise in a horizontal position on thefloor of the drive-in compartment.

we claim:

1. In a coded, automatic, self service garment dispenser of the typehaving an endless conveyor carrying a plurality of individual sets ofconventional wire coat hanger supported garments spaced therealong infront to back closely spaced relation said conveyor having a garmenttransfer station with a locked immovable compartment along the paththereof and said dispenser having customer actuated code controlmechanism for,

halting said conveyor with the customers garments at said station thecombination of;

coat hanger transfer means at said station, for bodily transporting aset of said coat hangers, so halted at said station, away from saidconveyor and into said locked immovable compartment; said meansincluding a carriage, track means supporting and guiding said carriageto move in an arcuate path in a vertical plane; an arm having ahorizontally extending terminal hook, said arm being pivoted to saidcarriage to move in a horizontal plane, and cam means, on said support,for pivoting said arm laterally in a horizontal plane to hook sidewiseunder the hooks of the hangers of said set; and power means, independentof said conveyor, and

responsive to a signal from said code control mechanism to actuate saidtransfer means to move said carriage back and forth between saidconveyor and said compartment whereby the hook of said arm moveshorizontally under said hanger hooks, and the vertical arcuate path ofsaid carriage on said track means lifts said hooks up off said conveyorand thence over and down in a vertical plane to the levelof saidcompartment. 2. A garment dispenser as specified in claim 1 wherein:

said track means comprises a pair of parallel, vertical, elongatedplates having oppositely disposed curved slots therein and said carriageincludes wheels guided in said slots the ends of said slots proximatesaid conveyor curving downwardly to create a lift to said hook when saidwheeled carriage is moved toward said compartment. 3. A garmentdispenser as specified in claim 2 wherein:

said carriage is fixed to a chain trained over sprockets journalledwithin said parallel plates and said power means includes a reversibleelectric motor driving one of said sprockets and mounted on one of saidplates. 4. A garment dispenser as specified in claim 1 wherein:

said horizontally extending terminal hook includes an enlarged terminaltip for preventing inadvertent release of any wire coat hangers hookedthereover. 5. A garment dispenser as specified in claim 1 wherein:

said locked compartment is relatively high and narrow, said garmenttransfer means bodily transports said garments edgewise away from saidconveyor and into said compartment and said compartment includes arelatively high narrow normally closed front door and a relatively high,narrow normally open rear door, both operably connected to move inunison for one to open as the other closes and vice versa. 6. A garmentdispenser as specified in claim 1 wherein:

said conveyor at said station is at a reduced height corresponding tothe level of an automobile window; said locked compartment is relativelylow and wide and includes a floor at said level adapted to supportgarments horizontally and said garment transfer means bodily transportssaid garments edgewise away from said Conveyor 6 until the lower portionthereof engages said floor to twist said garments for horizontal depositon said floor. 7. Apparatus for bodily transporting an individual set 5of garments, depending from conventional wire hangers, between anendless dry cleaning conveyor and a locked compartment alongside saidconveyor said apparatus comprising:

a support fixed between said conveyor and said com- 10 partment andhaving a track defining a curve in a vertical plane;

a carriage mounted to move along said support in said curved track;

a hooked arm movably mounted on said carriage to pivot in a horizontalplane; means for moving said hooked arm back and forth in a horizontalplane when the hook of said arm is proximate a set of coat hangershalted on said conveyor to hook under the hooks of said hangers powermeans for driving said carriage back and forth in said curved track ofsaid supports and coded control means for actuating said power means tomove said carriage up to said conveyor to permit said hooked arm to liftoff said coat hangers and then move said carriage, hooked arm andhangers along said support to deposit said garments in said compartment.

8. The method of transferring dry cleaned garments suspended onconventional wire coat hangers on a halted endless conveyor into alocked immovable self service compartment by means of a track, carriageand pivoted transfer arm which comprises the steps of:

moving said carriage on said track in a compound curved path in avertical plane, with said arm fixed against vertical movement thereon,up to said conveyor then, pivoting said arm in a horizontal plane onsaid carriage to move the hooked terminal end thereof horizontally awayfrom the hangers to be engaged as the carriage comes to a halt thenpivoting said arm in a horizontal plane in the reverse direction toengage the hooked terminal end under the cluster of hooks of saidhangers on said conveyor then moving said carriage in an upwardlyinclined direction to lift said hooked end of said arm and thereby liftsaid hooks off said conveyor for retraction,

and then moving said carriage, arm and garments over to said compartmentwhile describing a compound curve in a vertical plane to deposit thesame in said compartment.

9. The method as specified in claim 8 wherein:

55 the step of moving said garments on said compound curve in saidvertical plane includes the step of moving the same in a rectilinearpath in said vertical plane.

10. The method as specified in claim 8 plus the steps supporting thehooks of said hangers on the hook of said transfer arm relativelyloosely and intercepting the lower portion of the gamients dependingfrom said hangers as they approach said compartment, to thereby causesaid garments to twist through substantially 90 and to be laid flatwiseon the floor of said compartment.

1. In a coded, automatic, self service garment dispenser of the typehaving an endless conveyor carrying a plurality of individual sets ofconventional wire coat hanger supported garments spaced therealong infront to back closely spaced relation said conveyor having a garmenttransfer station with a locked immovable compartment along the paththereof and said dispenser having customer actuated code controlmechanism for halting said conveyor with the customer''s garments atsaid station the combination of; coat hanger transfer means at saidstation, for bodily transporting a set of said coat hangers, so haltedat said station, away from said conveyor and into said locked immovablecompartment; said means including a carriage, track means supporting andguiding said carriage to move in an arcuate path in a vertical plane; anarm having a horizontally extending terminal hook, said arm beingpivoted to said carriage to move in a horizontal plane, and cam means,on said support, for pivoting said arm laterally in a horizontal planeto hook sidewise under the hooks of the hangers of said set; and powermeans, independent of said conveyor, and responsive to a signal fromsaid code control mechanism to actuate said transfer means to move saidcarriage back and forth between said conveyor and said compartmentwhereby the hook of said arm moves horizontally under said hanger hooks,and the vertical arcuate path of said carriage on said track means liftssaid hooks up off said conveyor and thence over and down in a vErticalplane to the level of said compartment.
 2. A garment dispenser asspecified in claim 1 wherein: said track means comprises a pair ofparallel, vertical, elongated plates having oppositely disposed curvedslots therein and said carriage includes wheels guided in said slots theends of said slots proximate said conveyor curving downwardly to createa lift to said hook when said wheeled carriage is moved toward saidcompartment.
 3. A garment dispenser as specified in claim 2 wherein:said carriage is fixed to a chain trained over sprockets journalledwithin said parallel plates and said power means includes a reversibleelectric motor driving one of said sprockets and mounted on one of saidplates.
 4. A garment dispenser as specified in claim 1 wherein: saidhorizontally extending terminal hook includes an enlarged terminal tipfor preventing inadvertent release of any wire coat hangers hookedthereover.
 5. A garment dispenser as specified in claim 1 wherein: saidlocked compartment is relatively high and narrow, said garment transfermeans bodily transports said garments edgewise away from said conveyorand into said compartment and said compartment includes a relativelyhigh narrow normally closed front door and a relatively high, narrownormally open rear door, both operably connected to move in unison forone to open as the other closes and vice versa.
 6. A garment dispenseras specified in claim 1 wherein: said conveyor at said station is at areduced height corresponding to the level of an automobile window; saidlocked compartment is relatively low and wide and includes a floor atsaid level adapted to support garments horizontally and said garmenttransfer means bodily transports said garments edgewise away from saidconveyor until the lower portion thereof engages said floor to twistsaid garments for horizontal deposit on said floor.
 7. Apparatus forbodily transporting an individual set of garments, depending fromconventional wire hangers, between an endless dry cleaning conveyor anda locked compartment alongside said conveyor said apparatus comprising:a support fixed between said conveyor and said compartment and having atrack defining a curve in a vertical plane; a carriage mounted to movealong said support in said curved track; a hooked arm movably mounted onsaid carriage to pivot in a horizontal plane; means for moving saidhooked arm back and forth in a horizontal plane when the hook of saidarm is proximate a set of coat hangers halted on said conveyor to hookunder the hooks of said hangers power means for driving said carriageback and forth in said curved track of said supports and coded controlmeans for actuating said power means to move said carriage up to saidconveyor to permit said hooked arm to lift off said coat hangers andthen move said carriage, hooked arm and hangers along said support todeposit said garments in said compartment.
 8. The method of transferringdry cleaned garments suspended on conventional wire coat hangers on ahalted endless conveyor into a locked immovable self service compartmentby means of a track, carriage and pivoted transfer arm which comprisesthe steps of: moving said carriage on said track in a compound curvedpath in a vertical plane, with said arm fixed against vertical movementthereon, up to said conveyor then, pivoting said arm in a horizontalplane on said carriage to move the hooked terminal end thereofhorizontally away from the hangers to be engaged as the carriage comesto a halt then pivoting said arm in a horizontal plane in the reversedirection to engage the hooked terminal end under the cluster of hooksof said hangers on said conveyor then moving said carriage in anupwardly inclined direction to lift said hooked end of said arm andthereby lift said hooks off said conveyor for retraction, and thenmoving said carriage, arm and garments over to said compartmenT whiledescribing a compound curve in a vertical plane to deposit the same insaid compartment.
 9. The method as specified in claim 8 wherein: thestep of moving said garments on said compound curve in said verticalplane includes the step of moving the same in a rectilinear path in saidvertical plane.
 10. The method as specified in claim 8 plus the stepsof: supporting the hooks of said hangers on the hook of said transferarm relatively loosely and intercepting the lower portion of thegarments depending from said hangers as they approach said compartment,to thereby cause said garments to twist through substantially 90* and tobe laid flatwise on the floor of said compartment.